Teeth whitening and removal of mouth bacteria is a common goal during modern dental procedures. However, regular treatment is required to effectively remove bacteria and effectively whiten teeth. Traveling to the dentist for regular treatments for teeth whitening treatments can be inconvenient and expensive. One way to effectively treat teeth is to use ultra-violet radiation emitted from a specialized dental instrument available for use at a professional dentist's office. Because of the difficulty of visiting a dentist regularly, many people would prefer to utilize a personal dental instrument and products available for residential use rather than travel to the dentist for regular treatment. In-home self-administered treatments are available for whitening teeth such as toothpaste, hydrogen peroxide gel, whitening paint, whitening trays, whitening strips, mouthwash liquid and baking soda. However, in-home dental treatment devices are generally more limited and less effective.
Some professional dental instruments include ultra-violet emitting devices and photosensitizing agents, however, treatment with these devices may cause damage to the gums and teeth to those who lack sufficient training or education on how to use these devices and agents. Possible leakage of whitening agents from the device may cause chronic ingestion of unwanted chemicals. Other in-home treatments with various agents are also available; however, these treatments also have their own limitations and disadvantages, including lack of efficiency, unsatisfying results, prolonged treatment period or prolonged treatment regime which requires excessive time to yield effective results.
For example, some attempts in use of light aided bleaching procedures suffer because the light utilized is emitted from the head of the toothbrush in an indirect manner where it can be reflected or scattered by surrounding fibers or dispersed by bubbles formed during the brushing process or from overly dispersed bristle configuration which limit the concentration of the emitted radiation and therefore are limited from energizing the radiation reactive agent on the intended area. Others attempts include the use of trays or mouthpieces which provide only limited radiation to the front and not upon the rear of the tooth surface thereby reducing the treatments effectiveness.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a light emitting toothbrush which provides a high intensity ultraviolet or infrared radiation with a concentrated radiation geometry directly to the tooth surface and the hard to reach proximal surface between the teeth to enhance tooth whitening, bacteria disinfection or sensitivity reduction while providing mechanical abrasion for removal of food particles in conjunction with proper toothpaste or dental gel using the combination of optical and non-optical brushing bristles in an at-home, easily transportable, waterproof, head replaceable light emitting toothbrush.